JACKSONVILLE, FL (February 21, 2015) -- 121 Financial Credit Union was the title sponsor of the 2015 Rotary Oratory Competition, the first annual five-county speech contest in Northeast Florida involving seniors from 25 high schools.
Thanks to the financial support of 121 Financial, funds were available to conduct the month long contest, award $500 college scholarships to six regional winners, and provide a $4,000 scholarship to the winner and $2,000 to the runner up. In addition, 121 Financial gave each regional winner a $100 college starter savings account.
121 Financial worked with the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville who contacted 46 public and private high schools in the counties surrounding Jacksonville, Florida. Twenty-five of those schools selected candidates to advance to six regionals held at other Rotary Clubs around the city. Then finals were held at a competition dinner at the University of North Florida, where Jolene Stubbings of West Nassau High School won first place and Abby Murphy of Creekside High School took second place. The dinner, which was attended by approximately 200 people, including school board members from three counties, featured a presentation by 121 Financial Senior Vice President and CFO Becky Hulett.
“The topic of the competition was financial literacy,” said Hulett. “And it was amazing to hear the well-thought, well-researched speeches by these high school seniors. As I mentioned in my presentation at the dinner, many of them could have great futures at 121.”
While 121 Financial was the title sponsor of the event; the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute was the regional sponsor; and Sawgrass Asset Management was the runner up scholarship sponsor.
121 Financial Credit Union offers full banking and loan services to any individual and small business located throughout Northeast Florida. Established in 1935, 121 Financial Credit Union has over 40,000 members.